PARLOVR

Meet Parlovr (pretend the V is a U when you say it). Over the last few years, these three Montrealers have been bringing their manic melee of indie pop to the musically-curious masses. They’ve already amassed plenty of attention from tasters and tastemakers alike via their blissfully bizarre tracks and seizure-inducing live shows; however, after recently signing onto the Dine Alone Records roster, the band is ready to make some serious noise in the new decade – in more ways than one…

Initially formed in a Mile-End loft during the winter of 2006 by guitarist/vocalist Louis David Jackson and keyboardist/vocalist Alex Cooper, the current incarnation of Parlovr came about in 2007 when drummer Jeremy MacCuish entered the fold – a catalyst to the fusion of the foiling songwriting styles of the original two. Since, the band has taken off on its own sonic tangent, appropriately dubbed “sloppy pop” in the past; stripped down but salacious and spastic.

The music is about as diverse as the city that spawned it – an interweaving of styles that takes on a shape and shimmer of its own. Raw and reverb-soaked, their independently-released, self-titled debut dropped in late 2008, recorded and produced by Martin Horn at Digital Bird Studios. The songs found therein are rooted in dramatic dynamics not unlike those that exist between Cooper and Jackson’s foiling songwriting styles – quiet and loud; screams and whispers; sing-alongs and spacey instrumentals; warm low-end and crisp, shimmering leads; short pop jabs and extended epics. You get the idea, right? It’s quirky, it’s catchy, and while it’s full of familiar throwbacks to ‘60s pop, ‘80s post-punk, and ‘90s garage, it’s also refreshing.

Since its release, the album has garnered some great ink in pretty much every well-respected left-of-centre publication here in Canada – Hero Hill, Chartattack, and Hour among them. Even some from the south are taking notice, with Spin magazine calling the band one of the “5 to watch” out of Montreal (it’s pretty much the new Seattle) and The New York Times sharing kind words about their live show. It’s obvious the bandwagon is starting to fill up, and everybody on it is dancing.

Parlovr has spent time bringing their melodies on the road, having toured extensively throughout Canada, New York, France and Europe alongside indie pop peers like Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. With all of the pieces in place, Parlovr seems set to bring their melodic mayhem to a widespread populace for the new decade.